The present invention relates generally to a manufacturing system for electronic products, and more particularly to a programming system for microdevices.
In the past, programmable microdevices were programmed in a standalone, single socket, programming system. An operator would manually place individual unprogrammed micro devices in the programmer for programming, and then remove them for placement on a carrier. The operator would also place rejected microdevices, which did not meet specifications or which could not be programmed, into reject bins. The programmed microdevices, which were not rejected, would be placed on the carrier and placed in an input feeder, which would be attached to an assembly line. The assembly line had its own assembly line handling system which would pick up the programmed microdevices and place them on printed circuit boards.
One of the problems associated with the prior art programming equipment is that it lacks a control system which is capable of comprehensively job managing and controlling the programming operation. Another problem with the prior art programming equipment is that it typically does not allow for easy communication between the programming equipment and other computers.
Ideally, a programming system would have a control system that efficiently manages and controls the programming operations and is capable of maintaining and communicating essential operation information, such as equipment uptime, yield, number of failures, the types of failure, etc., to and from other computers through a storage media or a network arrangement. This ideal has been extremely difficult to achieve and has eluded those skilled in the art.
The present invention provides a control system having a control agent controlling a user interface, an actuator control, a processing control, and a job control. The control system is used with a processing system which has a processing mechanism for performing a processing operation on the microdevices at a high rate of speed.
The present invention further provides a control agent controlling a plurality of subsystems. The control agent is used with a processing system which has an actuator mechanism for manipulating the microdevices among the other mechanisms, and a processing mechanism for performing a processing operation on the microdevices at a high rate of speed.
The present invention further provides a control agent controlling an error manager subsystem. The error manager subsystem is used for efficiently managing errors in a processing system which has an actuator mechanism for opening and closing sockets and a processing mechanism for performing a processing operation on the microdevices at a high rate of speed.
The present invention further provides a control agent controlling an event log subsystem. The event log subsystem is used for maintaining a history log of the operations of a processing system which has an actuator mechanism for opening and closing sockets and a processing mechanism for performing a processing operation on the microdevices at a high rate of speed.
The present invention further provides a control agent controlling a non-volatile memory subsystem. The non-volatile memory subsystem is used for maintaining operation information across power cycles regarding a processing system which has an actuator mechanism for opening and closing sockets and a processing mechanism for performing a processing operation on the microdevices at a high rate of speed.
The present invention further provides a control agent controlling a programmable memory subsystem. The programmable memory subsystem is used for updating operation information regarding a processing system which has an actuator mechanism for manipulating the microdevices among the other mechanisms, and a processing mechanism for performing a processing operation on the microdevices at a high rate of speed.
The present invention further provides a control agent controlling a communications network subsystem. The communications network subsystem is used for communicating information to and regarding a processing system which has an actuator mechanism for manipulating the microdevices among the other mechanisms, and a processing mechanism for performing a processing operation on the microdevices at a high rate of speed.
The present invention further provides a control agent controlling a portable memory manager. The portable memory manager uses a PCMCIA card and is used for updating operation information regarding a processing system which has an actuator mechanism for opening and closing sockets and a processing mechanism for performing a processing operation on the microdevices at a high rate of speed.